Dr. Rakesh Kumar has obtained his B.Sc. (Honours) in Chemistry from Banaras Hindu University in 2010, followed by an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from the University of Calicut in 2012. After this,he completed his M.Tech. in Biomedical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) in 2014 and earned his Ph.D. in Biosciences from IIT Bombay in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Samir K. Maji. His doctoral research focused on the molecular mechanisms of α-synuclein aggregation associated with Parkinson’s disease, with significant contributions to understanding amyloid structure, toxicity, and aggregation pathways.

Following his Ph.D., Dr. Kumar joined Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, as a Postdoctoral Researcher (2019–2025). During his postdoctoral training, he worked extensively on the inhibition of amyloid-β aggregation, identifying key residues of amyloid-β peptides that interact with molecular chaperones, leading to effective suppression of fibril formation. In parallel, he contributed to the development of novel biomarker strategies for the detection of dementia with Lewy bodies, including ultrasensitive seed-amplification assays using patient cerebrospinal fluid.

Dr. Kumar is now (January 2026 onwards) working as Ramanujan (Faculty) Fellow in Department of Biomedical Engineering, IIT Ropar.